Lecturas en el imperfecto - Las hormigas culonas

Una lectura en el imperfecto en conjunto con un tema cultural.




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Un video sobre las hormigas culonas:

Lecturas en el imperfecto - el trompo

Una lectura en el imperfecto en conjunto con un tema cultura:



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La revista sobre las tradiciones paraguayas con un trompo com protagonista:

Video promocional "El trompo arasa"

Video del programa "Colombia tiene talento" Show de trompo

Para conversar

Hoy estuve en la clase de español 2 y mis estudiantes empezaron a conversar conmigo en español sin que yo les impulse. Claro que me puse muy contento, pues quiero que todos mis alumnos platiquen en español de una manera natural y curiosa. Con esto en mente, junté una lista de preguntas que me parecen apropiadas para comenzar una conversación en español en un nivel de principiante. Pienso tomar unos cinco minutos de cada clase (por unas nueve semanas) para que los alumnos conversen juntos en español sobre varios temas. Claro que hay un poco de trabajo que hacer para que los alumnos puedan contestar algunas de las preguntas, pero pienso que con un poquito de práctica ellos van a estar charlando muy bien sobre estos temas. Espero que alguien también pueda utilizar este recurso porque sabemos que el uso y la repetición del idioma es un elemento tremendamente importante en la clase de español como segundo idioma.

“Los colores de la montaña” - Introducing the imperfect

I added an addendum to the previous “Los colores de la montaña” worksheet. I am going to use the movie to introduce the imperfect tense in my SP2 class.

Here it is:


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Reflection on my flipped classroom experience

A redbrickED article by Joshua Sollie

Reflection on using a flipped classroom to introduce grammar topics in a World Languages Classroom.

I recently created a video explaining a grammar topic and an online worksheet for students to complete to test their comprehension.  I used it as an introduction to talking about how long we have been doing something.  The video (based off of the textbook explanation)  to watch at home was about five minutes in length and although it had my voice, I did not appear on the video.  The worksheet consisted of four comprehension questions and then three questions (test questions) for students to answer to test their ability to apply their knowledge of the topic. 

Opposite the video, I gave students the option of reading an explanation in class which mirrored the video presentation of the grammar topic and filling in a worksheet (paper) with the same comprehension questions and the same questions to test their ability to apply the topic.   During this time I did not tell the students they could not use me as resource, but few decided to ask me any questions.

I evaluated their responses and divided them into two categories.  The first category is where comprehension is achieved and proven through correct responses on the set of test questions.   The second category is where students do not comprehend and is proven through incorrect responses on the set of test questions. Here are the results:

	Students obtaining comprehension and application	Students not able to comprehend and then apply.
Online video (20 students)	15	5
Written explanation (23 students)	7	16

As you can see the results are almost flipped with the students watching the video and filling in the online worksheet comprehending and applying near a 75% rate; with the opposite results for the students reading the explanation with near 75% of the students not comprehending.  Also, the errors that the students who watched the video made were mostly errors stemming from their understanding of verb conjugations and not necessarily from their understanding of the grammar construction.  Meanwhile the range of errors for students who read the explanation was greater with no apparent patterns noticed.  

I was rather astonished by the results. I must admit I was apprehensive about trying this method, not being sure whether watching a video for understanding would be a worthwhile activity and if it would help the students learn.  I tend, I think as we all do, to exaggerate the importance of the teacher’s physical presence for student comprehension.   What I am beginning to understand through this exercise is that as teachers we need to start building a digital presence which helps our students learn in order to supplement our physical presence.  The role of the teacher is not in any way diminished, because we are still monitoring and instructing our students.  The difference in this digital age is that students have increased opportunities to learn and we have increased opportunities to guide and give feedback.

Another epiphany I bumped into (again) is that students are digital learners.  I learned with pencil, paper, textbooks and overheads.   Today’s students learn through online tutorials, videos, web chats, mobile devices and exploration.  I did not track the number of students who supplemented their watching of the video with their own research and practice, although it would be interesting to measure this as well.  This is, and should be, the most effective way for them to learn.   It is the way they interact with the world and is the means through which they will perform their jobs.

My next step is to create another video for students to watch and answers for them to complete to test their ability to comprehend and apply.   Opposite this I will give an in class explanation of the topic to a different set of students and have them complete the same form to test their comprehension and ability to apply. Then I will compare the results and see what I have. 

So, here’s to building a digital presence and letting go of our schema which convinces us that students our incapable of learning without us watching over their shoulders.

A redbrickED study in collaboration with ENSENACONEXITO.BLOGSPOT.COM 

Guía de estudio para la película “LOS COLORES DE LA MONTAÑA”

Guía de estudio para la película “LOS COLORES DE LA MONTAÑA” 

You can view it below and access it here



I added an addendum to the previous worksheet. I am going to use the movie to introduce the imperfect tense in my SP2 class.

Here it is:



CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Reflecting on classroom activities

A redbrickED article by Joshua Sollie

ANALYZING THE VALUE OF CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

The effect of daily repetition of vocabulary with picture associations.

During a recent institute at our school Jim Burke was the featured speaker.  One concept which he repeated several times and stuck with me was that we should be analyzing our classroom procedures and activities to determine which ones are effective and a good use of our time and resources.  In other words, which activities are actually valid and help the students?

 With that in mind, I decided to analyze a daily practice in my classroom which takes between 3-5 minutes a day.  To practice vocabulary, I have created PowerPoints with the vocabulary words in the form of flashcards with the slides including the word and also a picture.  We go over the words at least once every class period.  It is a simple repetition exercise that probably takes between 3-5 minutes each class period during which the students repeat the words while viewing the PowerPoint.   In practice I knew the repetition and picture association should help the students produce the words (the students are given the words in English and have to write the Spanish equivalent for their quiz), but had never analyzed this practice.  To test whether this was a valid exercise, I did not do the repetition exercise for the last lesson of this quarter; although I did create flashcards that the students could view online to study on their own.   I was unsure what the results would be, but was not surprised by the following:

PERIOD	QUIZ 1 W/ PPT PRACTICE	QUIZ 2 W/ PPT PRACTICE	QUIZ 3 W/ PPT PRACTICE	QUIZ 4 NO PPT PRACTICE
1ST	Mean:9.7 Median:10.0	Mean:9.8 Median:10.0	Mean:9.0 Median:10.0	Mean:8.4 Median:9.0
5TH	Mean:8.8 Median:9.0	Mean:9.3 Median:10.0	Mean:9.1 Median:10.0	Mean:8.4 Median:9.0
6TH	Mean:8.9 Median:10.0	Mean:8.4 Median:9.0	Mean: 9.5 Median:10.0	Mean:7.9 Median:9.0

While I am sure there are several variables at play, it is significant that the lowest mean score for each
class is the quiz where the students were not presented with the words and phrases in a repetitive manner through the PowerPoint exercise.  I am going to continue monitoring this practice throughout the fourth quarter and continue to analyze the value of this practice.  It also made me think about the other activities I do in class.  If an exercise that I do for three to five minutes a day has this type of an effect on student learning,  what about the rest of the procedures and activities that I do in class.  Are they as effective and do they provide the same types of results?  If not, why?  Even more importantly, why do I continue to do those activities?

A redbrickED study in collaboration with  ENSENACONEXITO.BLOGSPOT.COM

33 Digital Skills for 21st Century Teachers

Experimenting with flipped classroom

I am continuing to experiment with the flipped classroom concept. Recently I created a video for students to watch on their own and also a form for them to fill as they watch.

Here it is